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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23353066">lean into my side</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikii/pseuds/tikii'>tikii</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>and are we there? [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>.PNG, Desert, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, How Do I Tag, I lied, Light Angst, heat exhaustion, mostly fluff tho</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:06:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,826</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23353066</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikii/pseuds/tikii</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>in which vacuo is hot , and oscar runs colder than most ; a 3 +1</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Oscar Pine &amp; Everyone, Oscar Pine &amp; Lie Ren, Oscar Pine &amp; Weiss Schnee, Oscar Pine &amp; Yang Xiao Long</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>and are we there? [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679671</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>140</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>okay this one is going to be a Doozy<br/>so first of all , this is going to be a 3 +1 , so look out for more chapters !!<br/>this idea came from kin so Thank u kin u absolute legendary icon </p><p>so essentially, i made my own collection !! with this collection, ill be able to directly link things to are we there yet while not making extra and unecessarily jumpy chapters ; ill be able to branch out when things are getting repetitive to make things interesting and fun !! but the pieces in this collection follow the storyline of ' are we there yet ' - they're just little extras that are connected and they'll use stuff like headcanons that are in are we there yet</p><p>so !! the headcanon that is being used in this piece is oscar running colder than everyone else </p><p>mies made a Wonderful oscar vacuo design ( https://shadowsnowdapple.tumblr.com/post/190921383622/give-rwby-fans-less-than-a-month-and-well-start ) and a lot of inspiration comes from it, so when you see the word " poncho ' or ' hood ' you'll understand that it was drawn from the redesign bc its MUA chef's kiss</p><p>and ! i imagine the terrain in vacuo kind of like the world in journey !! full of sand and desert with structures here and there and little towns and stuff - it's really beautiful ! i suggest that y'all do so little as so Check Out journey bc it's so good</p><p>so anyway !! here's the first chapter - enjoy !</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Vacuo was… </span>
  <em>
    <span>horrible</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was hot, sticky, and downright miserable. It’s a miracle that Yang hadn’t collapsed this far into Vacuo because she was </span>
  <em>
    <span>sweating</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Because of her fiery semblance, she ran much hotter than everyone, so Atlas was a breeze. But </span>
  <em>
    <span>Vacuo </span>
  </em>
  <span>was going to kill her, which sucked, because she wanted to go out heroically, not because of stupid heat stroke. Somehow, the new outfits that were good for circulation and good with heat weren’t working </span>
  <em>
    <span>at all</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a lot of walking, too, so that didn’t help. Yang was sweating and panting and it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>horrible</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar seemed to be having no problem, though. He ran colder than the rest of them, so he was fine with the climate. In fact, he even had a freaking </span>
  <em>
    <span>poncho</span>
  </em>
  <span> on. It covered his shoulders and Yang had no idea how Oscar was </span>
  <em>
    <span>surviving </span>
  </em>
  <span>right now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But the </span>
  <em>
    <span>walking </span>
  </em>
  <span>was getting to him, for sure. The kid had built up hella endurance as he spent more time with them, but the walking was a lot, even for Yang; especially since the terrain wasn't flat and had small hills of sand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Especially now - Oscar and Yang were instructed to go to an abandoned part of the desert with a structure in the middle of it (Yang had </span>
  <em>
    <span>no idea </span>
  </em>
  <span>what she was supposed to call it - it didn’t even look like it had a roof. The roof was collapsed and broken, and the walls seemed as if they were going to give in. They were instructed to look for dust, and they figured that if dust was anywhere, it’d be in the rocks that were found in the area. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The shade was absolutely welcome. Yang sat down on a rock to take a break as Oscar pulled down the hood of his poncho, letting out a soft sigh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll start looking!” He chirped, walking around the insides. Yang put a thumbs up and caught her breath as the freckled boy walked around, overturning rocks and looking for dust. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now that Yang was getting a good look at it, this structure was… rather beautiful from inside. There were carvings on the walls and photos, and the sunlight was streaming in from the small cracks and breakages in the ceiling. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oi, tiny - do you think you could read what’s on the walls?” Yang asked, pointing at the wall in front of her. Oscar jumped from the other side and jogged back to her, his eyes flickering over to the wall.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe… let’s see.” Oscar walked up to the wall and put a hand on it, pointing to where the text started. “...some of it is faded but… Oz?” He spoke aloud, and Yang repressed the urge to roll her eyes. “‘...it used to be peaceful. The grimm have not left us alone since the Darkness, and we were forced to come here. Maybe the grimm won’t find us here’...then it’s faded, and scratched. And then it picks up with… ‘I wonder if the gods have heard our pleas for help and salvation. Is there no mercy for innocents such as us? I wonder if the gods even exist.’” Oscar stopped, turning to face Yang. “That’s the end of this part. It seemed like whoever was writing this was using the walls as like… a diary of some sorts.” Yang came up behind Oscar and put her hand on his shoulder as she looked at the drawing. It looked like a drawing of two girls, a guy, and some grimm chasing them. “I can keep going? If you’d like?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...nah. Thanks for reading it though, squirt. This gives me all the more reason to hurry up and get out of here. Let’s find this dust and bounce, okay?” Yang patted Oscar on the shoulder and he smiled at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, they walked around the inside, putting whatever dust they could find inside the container they were given. They didn’t really find a lot of dust - just a couple of pieces here and there of fire dust. Then, Yang got a bit too close to a big-looking rock and it turned out to be… </span>
  <em>
    <span>breathing</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Yang simply said, and she started backing away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“O-oh? What do you mean, ‘oh’?!” Oscar shrieked, coming to Yang’s side immediately. She shushed him as the ‘rock’ started to move slowly, and all of the metal in the structure creaked painfully. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay. On the count of three, we run.” Yang whispered, getting her gauntlets ready and activated. Oscar took out Long Memory and they continued to back away slowly. “One… two… three!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And they took off in the other direction, and whatever that ‘rock’ was </span>
  <em>
    <span>roared</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The structure around them started to shake and rock, and the ceiling started to collapse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh gods-“ Oscar yelped, and Yang ran forward, grabbed onto his hand and practically </span>
  <em>
    <span>shoved </span>
  </em>
  <span>the poor boy out of the door before sliding out on her own. The structure collapsed behind them, kicking up sand in the process. Yang covered her face with her arms and coughed as sand swirled around her. Oscar pulled up his hood and curled into himself in the sand bringing his hands up to cover his nose and mouth. When the sand settled, the black giant was gone, and the structure was completely destroyed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...that means we got all the dust.” Oscar jokes, falling onto his back on the sand. Yang began to laugh, taking her hands away from her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>like to imagine what that would have been like.” Yang huffed out, a grin on her face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Neither do I.” Oscar put a hand to his forehead to block the sun from getting in his eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“C’mon, tiny, get up - we gotta get back.” Yang offered him her hand, and Oscar took it. He yelped a little when Yang just </span>
  <em>
    <span>yanked </span>
  </em>
  <span>him up, and it was her turn to yell in surprise when his knees just buckled and he went dipping back to the earth. She caught him before he went face-first into the sand. “Woah! What’s up, kid? Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Oscar gritted out, trying to stabilize himself against Yang. “It’s just… my legs hurt. I haven’t walked this much in a while.” He laughed weakly. “It’s fine, though - a little more walking won’t kill me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It probably won’t kill you, but it would kill your legs. So, with that being said, we have to do something about this.” The blonde replied with a huff, ruffling his hair. “Hm… what should we do… oh! I know.” Yang set Iscar back on the sand gently and knelt in front of him. “Get on my back!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you… giving me a ride on your back?” Oscar asked with a snort.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did I stutter? Get on. kid.” Yang grinned, and Oscar pulled himself onto her back, wrapping his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist. As she stood up slowly, he adjusted his hood on his head and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Comfortable?” She asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup! Onward!” He said teasingly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Yang walked she… realized something. In contrast to her being a human heater, Oscar was a human </span>
  <em>
    <span>cooler </span>
  </em>
  <span>- despite the hot climate, Oscar was still somewhat cold, which </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>relieved some of Yang’s heat stress. She thought that she’d be on the verge of a heat stroke while carrying both Oscar and the dust container, but it turns out that Oscar was cold and light (alarmingly so), so she wasn’t really affected by it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have to carry you on my back more, tiny. You’re literally a walking talking cooler.” She said with a laugh. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you’re a walking heater. So I guess we cancel each other out.” Oscar giggled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess we do. I’m at a disadvantage in Vacuo because of the super hot climate. It’s kind of like how you were always </span>
  <em>
    <span>extra</span>
  </em>
  <span> cold in Atlas.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar made a face even though Yang couldn’t see it. “Ew. I’m so sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yang snorted. “It’s fine. Once I get into some AC and get some water, I think I’ll be fine.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you faint I don’t know what I’ll do.” Oscar said nervously. “Please don’t faint from heat stroke.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I won’t now that I have a cooler on my back, so don’t worry about it.” Yang reassured, grinning teasingly. Oscar gave a small giggled and went back to resting his head on Yang’s shoulder, letting his cape fall over his eyes. Yang looked back and snorted, trying to contain her laughter so that she wouldn’t shake the kid too much. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You look like a turtle. The green poncho is really doing it for me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh hush.” Oscar mumbled, not even looking up. Yang rolled her eyes playfully and fell silent, just focusing on walking for now. When she saw Shade Academy in the distance, she let out a small whoop and picked up the pace, ignoring the soreness of her legs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey! You guys are back!” Blake jogged up to the pair, taking the case out of Yang’s hand. “How did it go?” She asked. They began to walk back to the Academy together, and Yang told her about the structure and what the walls said, and how that giant rock wasn’t actually a rock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“At least you guys didn’t get hurt. I would hate to think what would have happened if there was still dust in that place.” Blake said sheepishly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s exactly what I said. Great minds think alike.” Yang grinned and winked at Blake, who blushed in reply.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A-anyway, is Oscar okay?” Blake asked quickly, casting a look at the farm boy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘M good!” Oscar looked up, pushing his hood out of his eyes. His eyes sparkled as he grinned at Blake. “Sorry! I think I might have just… zoned out there.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Blake giggled, moving to ruffle Oscar’s hair. “It’s fine. Good job getting the dust, you two - we’re going to need all the materials we can get.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Blake! I have something to tell you - it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>crazy.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Yang’s eyes widened as she grinned. Blake tilted her head to the side, her ears twitching. “Oscar is literally a </span>
  <em>
    <span>human cooler</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He’s so cold? And that’s great for me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You sound excited about that.” Blake said with a laugh. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am! I no longer have to worry about heat stroke.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can walk on my own.” Oscar huffed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know, but I can’t take much more heat. Therefore, you will now be my personal cooler.” Yang turned her head to look Oscar in the eyes, who was silently laughing. “Congratulations - you have a new job.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar laughed a genuinely happy laugh, and Yang found herself… genuinely happy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was surrounded by people who made her happy, after all - what else could she ask for?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had found her family. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i love oscar and ren’s relationship and THATS on being soft</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ren thought he was going to die. No, really - he didn’t think he could take any more of this heat. It was excruciating and he just wanted a nice ice bath and a bottle of water - that was it. But there was work to be done, and Ren had to do it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he had long, flowing, dark black hair that just attracted the sun like moths are attracted to a lamp. No matter how much Ren tried to tie his hair back, his scalp and the top of his head always felt like it was burning off. His aura prevented him from getting sunburnt, but sunburn or not, this heat was intense. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even the Academy itself was slightly hot. Their air conditioning systems were very good, but their rooms had windows galore that let the blistering sun shine it’s rays. The sun reached everywhere in that room, and Ren decided one day, laying on his bed, that he was going to die and melt right then and there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(Maybe he was being dramatic. That was Nora’s department.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(...)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(Eh. He’d allow himself to be dramatic for a little.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After laying in bed and staring into space for what seemed like forever, Ren heard the door click, and a red-faced Oscar ran into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Ren slowly sat up and gave him a questioning look. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nora, Ruby and I are playing tag-hide-n-seek and Nora found me and chased me up and down five flights of stairs. Can I hide in here with you?” Oscar panted, leaning against the door. Ren snorted, reaching over to grab a hair tie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course.” He put his long hair into a bun and laughed silently when Oscar deflated and sank to the ground, burrowing into his poncho. “If you don’t mind me asking, Oscar - how are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>hot in that poncho?” Ren asked, bringing a leg up to his chest. Oscar looked up from where he was on the floor and shrugged. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dunno. I’m just… colder than usual, I guess. It’s not that big of a deal.” Oscar fixed the poncho in question so that it wasn’t lopsided around his shoulders anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is a poncho practical in a climate like this?” Ren asked. He wasn’t really… good with conveying things in words, but he guessed what he wanted to say is that he was worried that Oscar might get overheated in the poncho. Oscar shrugged again, reaching up to tug at his hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess it’s not - but nothing bad has happened before, so… and it’s made of a good material. It’s supposed to reflect the heat or whatever.” Ren got up and removed Oscar’s hand from his hair, helping the freckled boy get up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We cut your hair in hopes that you wouldn’t tug at it.” Ren said with a teasing smile, reaching over to ruffle Oscar’s hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry.” Oscar pouted. “Old habits die hard, I guess.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, then, I guess we better keep busy while we’re hiding in here. I have a deck of Dos cards if you want to play Dos?” Ren suggested. Oscar’s eyes lit up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Yes, please!” Oscar went to the middle of the room and sat down again as Ren pulled the deck of cards out from the shelves. He hesitated sitting down because Oscar, of course, decided to sit in a space on the floor that the sunlight was illuminating. Oscar saw his hesitancy and curled up next to the bed Ren had with no hesitance, a small ‘sorry’ escaping his lips. Ren waved off his apology and proceeded to distribute the cards, placing down the first cards.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are we stacking?” Oscar asked, putting down the first card. Ren nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course we are. How else would we play Dos?”</span>
  <span><br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good point.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dos was a high-stakes game - it could get intense sometimes. Ren and Oscar were mellow players, but people like Yang and Nora and Ruby and (surprisingly) Jaune really got into it. There was one incident at Haven that had Nora and Yang not on speaking terms for about three days until Weiss got fed up and staged an intervention. It was… scary, but funny. That was just one of the many perks of Nora.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ren pushed down the fuzzy feeling in his chest and the blush in his cheeks and placed down a +3, to which Oscar replied by laughing. He then put down another +3, which meant that if Ren didn’t have another +3, he’d have to pick up six cards. Luckily for him, he did have another +3, but that was his last one. So, he placed it down, shuffled the five cards he had left, and grimaced when Oscar snickered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have another +3, right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Observant as always.” Oscar joked with a smile. The freckled boy placed down a +3, and so Ren found himself picking up 12 cards from the deck while Oscar giggled behind his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll get you back for this,” Ren said in a jokingly-threatening way. “I will.”</span>
  <span></span><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll see about that.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar ended up winning, much to Ren’s dismay. Ren huffed while Oscar celebrated, doing a little dance in place. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That felt good! I usually don’t win when we play Dos, so that felt really good.” Oscar rambled as Ren put away the cards, shoving them back onto the shelf. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You got lucky that time,” Ren said with a raised eyebrow and a sly, joking smile. “Next time, though I’ll get you.” Oscar rolled his eyes playfully, flopping onto the floor on his back. Half of his body was in the sun, and half of it was in the shade, and Ren found himself wondering how Oscar wasn’t melting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ren sat down in the shaded part, fanning himself with his hand. Oscar looked at him with a sheepish smile, fiddling with the clip of his cape. “Are you hot?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very.” Ren admitted. “The climate here is difficult to deal with.” Oscar sat up with a small hum, bringing a hand to his chin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Hold on - remember how in Atlas, you would warm me up? Well, what if I can help you cool down? Maybe? Yang said that I was pretty cool. In, like, the temperature sense. She carried me on her back through the desert.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ren snorted. “You’re pretty cool both literally and metaphorically.” Oscar flushed red and scooted over to Ren, leaning against him hesitantly. Ren blinked. “...I didn’t realize you were </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>cold, goodness me. You were even sitting in the sun for a little.” Oscar let out a small snort, yelping when Ren wrapped an arm around him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...yeah. But is this okay? Wouldn’t doing this make you hotter?’ Oscar asked with a small frown.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No - this is actually nice. I’m cooling down a little bit.” Ren hummed in reply. “This must’ve been a miracle for Yang in the desert.” Oscar giggled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was! She said that she would have to carry me on her back through the desert more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can see why. You’re a… hm…” Ren struggled to find the right words for what he was thinking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Walking, talking cooler?’ Oscar deadpanned. Ren snapped his fingers, his eyes widening almost comically. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Exactly.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that my brand now? Am I now a walking, talking cooler?” Oscar huffed jokingly, raising an eyebrow at Ren.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, that’s exactly what you are.” Ren nudged Oscar’s head with his cheek, letting his eyes close for a split second. This was… peaceful. It was hard to find peace these days, especially with the material searching and the missions out - it was like Atlas all over again, except hot and the headmaster wasn’t going to betray them (well… it didn’t look that way now, and Ren hoped it stayed that way). So, just relaxing like this was nice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course, all good things must come to an end. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nora came barging in, her eyes bright and full of pure chaos. “I FOUND YOU!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar screamed and yanked away from Ren’s grip, trying to get away, but Nora got him in the end. But, she fell into the light of the sun, causing her to hiss and complain about the heat, giving Oscar enough wiggle room to slide out from Nora’s grip and run out of the room, shouting, “BYE, REN!” over his shoulder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bye, Oscar!” Ren called after. He turned his attention to his girlfriend, huffing on the ground and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “Are you going to go after him?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nah. Ruby’ll get him,” Nora grumbled, sitting up. “But in the three seconds I was holding Oscar, I noticed he was actually kind of cold. Is that normal?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess.” Ren shrugged.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a small beat of silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“HE'S A WALKING COOLER!” Nora exclaimed, and Ren snorted into his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great minds think alike.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>we the rats we the rats we the rats we the rats we the rats we the ra</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Weiss Schnee was born, raised, and exposed to the chill of Atlas more than anyone. She knew what to do when someone had hypothermia, she knew how to deal with the cold, what the cold did to your body - she lived and breathed in the cold.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, Vacuo was a really </span>
  <em>
    <span>big </span>
  </em>
  <span>struggle for her. It was extremely hot, just like how Atlas was extremely cold, and the sun seemed like a never-ending heating lamp just beaming down on her. She thanked her aura every hour for keeping her from getting sunburnt and preventing her from getting heat stroke. Her new clothes were light - both fabric-wise and color wise (because she knew that darker colors attracted more light and heat - and moved well to allow more air in. Everyone seemed to have these new, light clothes with nothing covering their shoulders for the sake of heat and practical shorts and everything was </span>
  <em>
    <span>practical</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and then there was Oscar with a giant poncho covering his shoulders - and it was supposed to reflect the heat and protect him from the sun, but it still made Weiss wonder how the youngest member of their team hadn’t just passed out at this point. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weiss didn’t like to complain. She </span>
  <em>
    <span>hated </span>
  </em>
  <span>people who complained. She tried not to comment much on the climate on a day-to-day basis, but the heat kind of… scared her. She knew everything about the cold, what it could do to a person, and what temperatures could be fatal. But the heat? She knew nothing about the heat. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That </span>
  </em>
  <span>scared her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And she knew that her teammates felt the same way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The climate of Vacuo was a big mountain that they had to climb over, and they were trying to do the most they could to manage the heat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar, though? Oscar was doing just fine and dandy. The freckled boy was basking in the sun at any opportunity (and getting more freckles in the process - the kid looked like a chocolate chip cookie), playing around with the hood on his poncho and kicking up sand as he went along. He looked genuinely </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy </span>
  </em>
  <span>- and he looked genuinely happy for a long period of time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was probably because he wasn’t cold all the time anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And it was also probably because he had a couple of more things sorted out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The kid could use </span>
  <em>
    <span>magic </span>
  </em>
  <span>for crying out loud. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Training time, Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed, shocking Weiss out of her thoughts. “You good?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weiss gave a small scoff, leaning out Ruby’s touch a little. “Of course I am. And get off of me - you’re like a furnace.” There was no heat behind her words, however, and Ruby simply grinned in reply. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Weiss.” She removed her arm and grabbed her wrists instead, moving to walk backwards and drag Weiss behind her. “We’re already late for training, though, so let’s hurry up!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weiss rolled her eyes playfully. “Okay, okay - no need to keep a hold on my wrists.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The training arena was in an open room with a million windows that let the sunlight in. The training arena itself was made of sand and rocks, making for a little bit of a painful landing when falling over. Everyone was already at the arena, gearing up and getting ready for training in the shade, mind you.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar, though, was standing in the middle of the sunlight, adjusting the poncho on his shoulders and extending Long Memory, giving it a couple of swings in the air as he walked aimlessly in a circle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weiss all of a sudden felt hotter than she already was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She put her hair in a bun and took her hands away from Ruby’s grip to cup them over her mouth. “Just looking at you makes me hot, Oscar!” She yelled, causing the freckled boy to turn around with a grin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She didn’t think it was possible, but Oscar seemed to have gotten </span>
  <em>
    <span>more </span>
  </em>
  <span>freckles since yesterday.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Oscar, with a sly smile, pulled his hood over his head and continued what he was doing casually. Weiss shook her head with a sigh. How he hadn’t collapsed due to overheating was </span>
  <em>
    <span>beyond </span>
  </em>
  <span>her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright! We’re gonna have a tournament! Whoever wins gets that super fancy, big refillable water bottle.” Yang announced loudly, and everyone ‘whooped’ half heartedly in reply. “I already wrote down the matchups on a piece of paper. Whoever is out has to go sit on the bleachers to watch. Semblances allowed - </span>
  <em>
    <span>no </span>
  </em>
  <span>magic.” Yang peered at Oscar playfully, who pulled his hood off with a sheepish smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Noted.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get this underway, shall we?” Ruby clapped her hands together and bounced in place. “Who are the matchups?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“First is Blake vs. Ren. Then, it’s Ruby vs. Nora. You’re up against me, Ice Queen,” Yang winked in Weiss’ direction, causing the ‘Ice Queen’ in question to scoff.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, goodie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And then it’s Jaune and Oscar. After that, we’re gonna look at-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We know how a tournament works, let's just get on with it!” Nora yelled impatiently, stomping her feet on the ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She has a point.” Blake made her way to one side of the arena while Ren did the same on the opposite. “Ready?” Ren nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“GO!” Ruby shouted, and then the tournament that they were having was underway. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even with the heat and all, Weiss could tell that they were going all out. It wasn’t until this point, watching everyone go up before her, that she realized how strong they had actually gotten - how far they had come in terms of strength. It was… fulfilling. Satisfying. It was like all they had been doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>wasn't </span>
  </em>
  <span>for nothing. They were growing and improving, and maybe, just maybe, they would become strong enough to make a difference in the world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But that was far ahead. Right now. she had to focus on not getting pummeled into a pulp by Yang.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weiss swung the arm that was holding Myrtenaster and looked up when Yang cleared her throat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just because you’re a queen doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you.” Yang said with a wink. Weiss’ cheeks flared as she raised an eyebrow, a sly smirk forming on her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’d be disappointed if you went easy on me, Xiao Long.” She retorted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now you won’t have to be disappointed. Are we gonna start?” Yang clicked her gauntlets, and Weiss took a brief pause to take a breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes - let’s start.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weiss put up a good fight - she was fast and nimble and able to move out of the way of most of Yang’s hits. But the thing about Yang was that she wasn’t the fastest, but when she landed a hit, it hit </span>
  <em>
    <span>hard</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and unfortunately, that was the fate that befell upon Weiss.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weiss just </span>
  <em>
    <span>laid </span>
  </em>
  <span>on the sand of the arena for a couple of minutes after Yang had landed that final hit on her, a pout on her face and a small pain in her side. That </span>
  <em>
    <span>sucked</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But, she lasted longer this time than last time she sparred against Yang, so she’d take that as an absolute win.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t abuse you too much, did I Ice Queen?” Yang asked almost nervously, coming into her line of view. She was offering Weiss her hand, and Weiss took it, allowing herself to be hoisted up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...not really. But now I have sand all over my shirt and combat skirt, and for compensation, I’m putting you on laundry duty tonight.” She grinned when Yang sputtered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-wha-?! But it’s Ruby’s turn tonight!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A small price to pay for getting sand all over my clothes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Weiss you </span>
  <em>
    <span>hardly </span>
  </em>
  <span>complain about your clothes getting dirty!” Yang whined, beginning to walk back to the bleachers. Weiss followed, clasping her hands behind her back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know. I just felt like doing it this time.” Weiss turned to the bleachers and yelled to the team, “Yang just volunteered for laundry duty!” Everyone cheered half heartedly as Yang sputtered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yang groaned into her hands while Weiss laughed. “That was </span>
  <em>
    <span>cold</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Funny - I’m feeling exceptionally hot right now.” Weiss winked at Yang, who simply flushed in reply. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah - go up on the bleachers, Ice Queen.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be resting easy knowing that my clothes will be soft and clean tonight.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yang cursed out loud as Weiss walked up the bleachers, snickering. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>child </span>
  </em>
  <span>present!” Nora yelled, moving to cover Oscar’s ears. Oscar just made a face and rolled his eyes, getting up with his weapon in hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine, Nora. And I’m not a child! I’m-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fourteen.” Jaune finished with a deadpan, having gotten up himself. “You’re, like, a toddler.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-is this your idea of trash talk?!” Nora cackled from behind Oscar. “This is terrible. Oh, it’s so awkward.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meanwhile, Oscar had crossed his arms, looking at Jaune with a raised eyebrow. “Coming from the guy who thought getting a banana-styled haircut was a good idea.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaune sputtered. “I think it looks great!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It does! It suits you!” Oscar was quick to backtrack. “But it looks like a bunch of bananas on your head.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weiss watched fondly as the two bickered and walked to opposite ends of the arena. Both Jaune and Oscar had improved significantly over time, and she was kind of excited to see the match, even if it was just a sparring match. So, she sat down next to a pouting Ruby and watched the two go at it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a very even match. Both Jaune and Oscar had strengths and weaknesses that were obvious on the battlefield, but with every slip-up they came back with a strength that was rather surprising. Weiss wasn’t sure who was going to win, if she was being honest. Towards the end of the match, Oscar had fallen on his behind and Jaune was aiming to lightly hit the freckled boy on the head with the blunt side of the sword, but Oscar seemed to go into full panic mode and let out a small burst of magic that sent Jaune stumbling back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Oh gods - I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Oscar stuttered up, getting up and running to Jaune. ‘I didn’t hurt you, did I?’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah, buddy, that magic is </span>
  <em>
    <span>powerful</span>
  </em>
  <span>,’” Jaune wheezed, crouching down and putting his hands on his knees. “I’m fine - I think we all know who won this match.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You did - I wasn’t supposed to use magic.” Oscar reached up to tug at his hair. “So I’ll go sit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You sure?” Jaune frowned as they both began walking back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mhm.” Oscar nodded quickly, his cheeks flaring red. The kid was obviously mortified, so Jaune just let it go and allowed Oscar to scamper up the bleachers and sit next to Weiss. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weiss turned her head to the side and shot Oscar a small smile, to which he nervously smiled back and pulled his hood over his head, trying to hide the redness in his cheeks. All of a sudden, Weiss was reminded of how hot she was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How are you not dead right now?” Ruby asked over Weiss, an incredulous look on her face. “It’s blazing in here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You forget that I’m literally frosty the snowman,” Oscar deadpanned, peeking out from behind the hoodie. Weiss snorted into her hand while Ruby furrowed her eyebrows together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. You’re a rat.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No - </span>
  <em>
    <span>we </span>
  </em>
  <span>are rats.” Oscar corrected her casually. Ruby began to cackle while Weiss scrunched up her nose. She wasn’t even that much older than Ruby, and she had no idea what they were saying. Was it a new kind of language? Oscar laughed sheepishly, pulling at his fingers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Weiss - inside joke.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can see that - I don’t understand it all.” Weiss raised an eyebrow. “And Ruby does have a point - even if you did run colder than most of us, the heat would affect you drastically.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why? Are you hot, Weiss?” Ruby asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am. And you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to melt.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what I thought.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh!’ Oscar removed his hoodie, wringing his hands together. “U-um, I could help? If you want?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How could you help with the heat?” Weiss asked, genuinely curious. She hoped she wasn’t coming off as condescending or rude, but Oscar seemed to glodd right over that. He simply removed one of his gloves, hesitated, then put his hand against Weiss’ cheek. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>cold.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess Yang was right, then.” Weiss mused as Oscar put his glove back on. “You really are a cooler.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup. My new nickname should be that.” Oscar said with a small smile. “U-um, so if you need help with the heat-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How would you even go about it, though?” Ruby asked. “I’m interested!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar scooted a bit closer to Weiss, then leaned against her side. “Oh. That’s how. Is it working, Weiss?”</span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“...a little, yeah. Surprisingly.” Weiss blinked, something </span>
  <em>
    <span>other </span>
  </em>
  <span>than heat sweeping into her skin for the first time in a while. “It’s… nice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad to help.” Oscar chirped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so, for the rest of the tournament, Weiss was a very comfortable temperature. She wasn’t melting in place on the bleachers, and she wasn’t on the brink of sunburn - she was just comfortable. Ruby had moved to the other side of Oscar and they were chattering while the tournament continued. Ren joined in on the conversation halfway through the battle between Blake and Nora, and then their little group was accumulating. Blake joined shortly after, then Jaune, and then while Nora and Yang were duking it out on the battlefield, they were having a full-blown conversation about anything and everything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sweetest thing was that Oscar could have moved away anytime he wanted. But he didn’t - he just stayed leaning against Weiss and as he did, he spoke, his eyes lit up and a smile on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gods he was acting like an actual fourteen year old and, no pun intended, it melted Weiss’ heart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>I WIN!</b>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was as if everyone forgot about the tournament for a little bit. But Nora’s sudden scream had them all jumping and turning around. Nora was jumping up and down (how the </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell </span>
  </em>
  <span>did she have so much energy still?!) while Yang was sitting on the ground, laughing hysterically. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She did - she won. She gets the bottle of water.” Yang laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. Nora whooped and jumped around as Blake got up from the bleachers to help Yang up. Everyone else also began to stand up and stretch out, ready to go back to their rooms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t realize how long this tournament was - it’s almost sunset. And I’m hungry.” Ruby said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was right - it </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>almost sunset. Which was a blessing for Weiss because she didn’t have to have the intense sun beating down on her constantly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-I hope I was able to help, Weiss.” Oscar smiled shyly and stepped away from Weiss, his hands going up to fiddle with the edge of his hood. Weiss smiled gently in reply, reaching forward to ruffle his hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You did, actually - thank you. If I ever need to cool down, I’ll just come find you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m the community cooler!” Oscar laughed, causing Weiss to laugh along with him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Community cooler.” Weiss repeated. “I like that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Goodness - Weiss never thought she’d be relieved by the light in Oscar’s eyes, and yet here she was. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>final one !! thanks for sticking around ^<br/>if you have any requests or ideas you’d like to offer , just go ahead and tell me ^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“The day </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’re </span>
  </em>
  <span>hot is the day we’re all going to die.” Jaune joked. Oscar rolled his eyes playfully, crossing his arms over his chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah. I get it - I’m frosty the snowman. I’m a cooler. I’m a literal block of ice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, and the sky is blue and the sand is… tan.” Nora called from behind. Oscar giggled, then steadied himself against Jaune when he almost slipped on an unstable part of the ground. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You guys are so nice to me.” Oscar said sarcastically.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re nothing but nice to you, farm boy.” Jaune raised an eyebrow. “I could have just let you face plant in the sand just then. But I didn’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have a point.” Oscar adjusted the hood on his head with a small pout. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eyes up, guys.” Ren said as they cleared another giant hill of sand. “We’re here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nothing but </span>
  <em>
    <span>awe </span>
  </em>
  <span>bubbled up in Jaune. What they were looking at was a giant, palace-like structure. It was all black with different designs carved into it, and sand ran off of some of the sides like waterfalls. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This definitely looks like the kind of place that would have treasures and dust crystals.” Ren commented, raising his eyebrows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anything to get out of the sun.” Nora added.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We need someone to keep watch, though,” Jaune said. “Make sure grimm don’t come towards the entrances - this thing looks like it could collapse with the tiniest bit of impact. And with what happened with Yang and Oscar, we can’t take any chances. We don’t know if we’ll be as lucky as they were.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll stay.” Oscar piped up. “I can handle the sun better than you guys can - besides, I know you guys will be fast. I don’t want to slow you down if I’m in there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You won’t slow us down though!” Nora said with a small pout, wrapping an arm around the freckled boy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I withstand the sun better than you guys, and that’s just fact. I’m frosty the snowman.” Oscar joked weakly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But frosty the snowman melts at some point.” Ren pointed out. “And we don’t want the snowman to melt when we can’t get to him fast enough.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not gonna melt - not today!” Oscar said determinedly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...I trust you, Oscar.” Jaune said after a beat of silence. “Yell or press that button on your scroll if you need any help or start to get too hot, okay? We’ll be right out.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nora frowned, but gave Oscar a small squeeze and let go, her touch lingering a bit longer than usual. Ren stopped to ruffle his hair, and Jaune shot him a smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stay safe, okay?” The blond said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course! Good luck in there, guys.” Oscar waved as they walked inside of the structure and disappeared, leaving Oscar with the silence of the desert. He sat on the steps, pulling his hood over his eyes even more so that it covered his eyes from the sun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so, he sat on the stairs and waited. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar had heard that the sun was a bit more intense today, and he was kind of feeling it - the heat that he was feeling was certainly stronger than he had felt in the past couple of days. He just didn’t want anyone else to suffer through the intense heat, so he figured that he’d just stay to watch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>More freckles and a bit of sweat wasn’t that bad, anyway. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar fended off some small grimm about an hour into waiting outside, kicking sand into his eyes when he finished off the last one. He had to use some of the water in his water bottle to wash the sand out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That </span>
  <em>
    <span>sucked.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Oscar said out loud, rubbing his eyes. But, it was fine - he probably just had to endure a little bit more of sun and sand before Jaune, Nora and Ren came back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(He knew it wasn’t smart, but he took his poncho off. It was starting to get a bit hot.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the two and a half hour mark hit, Oscar thought he was going crazy. He had sat on the steps of the buildings for a couple of minutes before going out into the sun again, fending off some more grimm that came close to the building. There were more this time, so it took longer to fend them off, and by the time he was done, he was feeling… odd. He was sweating more than usual, which was weird because he almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>sweat; in the time he had been in Vacuo, he had never sweat. His legs were also beginning to feel weird and tense, so he sat down and wiped his brow with the back of his hand, stretching out his leg muscles. He then took a swing of water, realizing that his bottle was almost empty. The sun seemed to just radiate down on him mercilessly and constantly (gods is </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>how everyone else felt constantly?), causing him to let out a small, weak puff of air. He was feeling a little lightheaded, he wasn’t going to lie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But it’s fine! He got this. Oscar couldn’t just go back on his word and go in. He had to stand guard and watch for grimm, and he had to keep on marching on. Besides! He was a cooler - he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oscar started to wonder how much longer this was going to take when he put his head in between his knees. It felt like his heart was going a million miles an hour. He chalked it up to nerves - he was always nervous about something, wasn't he?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Oscar!” A familiar voice had Oscar whipping around, one hand on Long Memory. Jaune, Nora and Ren were walking out with that giant container of dust with grins on their faces and red cheeks from the heat. “We’re back!” Jaune jogged up to Oscar and set the container down on the ground. “Where’s your poncho, Oscar?’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Over there.” Oscar shakily pointed to the small piece of green fabric on the ground, hoping that he sounded less shaky and slurred then he thought. Obviously he didn’t because Jaune frowned immediately.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...are you okay, Oscar? You seem a little shaky.” Nora piped up from the back, peeking over Jaune’s shoulder. Oscar swallowed and nodded, running a hand through his hair, then pausing to tug at it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mhm. Just a little hot.” The freckled boy laughed nervously, blinking when the world began to spin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hot?!” Jaune all but yelled, kneeling down in front of Oscar. He placed a hand on Oscar’s sweaty forehead and winced, moving his hands up to place them on Oscar’s shoulders. “Are you… feeling okay? Like, are you feeling nauseous or anything?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“N-now that I’m thinking about it, yes, I am.” Oscar swallowed again, blinking twice. “...but it’s fine. I’m good! It’s just a little heat. If you can handle it, I can handle it.” He laughed nervously. Jaune winced, his grip on Oscar tightening. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You run colder than all of us, Oscar. You’re literally a cooler - that’s your nickname.” Jaune frowned. “Did you drink water?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ran out.” Oscar was beginning to lose his balance as he spoke, so he steadied himself against Jaune and bit his lower lip. “...’m hot.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ren, get some water. We have to get him in the shade and call for help.” Jaune had switched gears into ‘leader mode’, grabbing onto Oscar as he spoke. “Nora, grab the dust case.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aye aye!” Nora grabbed onto the case as Ren reached into the backpack that he was carrying to find water. Jaune led Oscar into the building and sat him down on the stairs, biting his lower lip.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...gods, Oscar, I’m so sorry. We were in there for such a long time, oh gods - and you were just </span>
  <em>
    <span>standing </span>
  </em>
  <span>out here-” Jaune rambled, and Oscar put out a shaky hand to pause him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘S fine. Don’t worry about it.” Oscar shrugged. “‘M frosty the snowman.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaune suppressed a snort, then reminded himself that this was </span>
  <em>
    <span>serious </span>
  </em>
  <span>and that they needed to cool the freckled boy down as fast as they possibly could. Ren ran in with that big water bottle Nora had won and knelt in front of Oscar, opening the water bottle. Jaune moved out of the way so that Ren could have Oscar drink the water, then he poured some on his forehead. Oscar let out a small groan, leaning heavily against the stair railing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I called for a ship.” Nora jogged back into the building, situating herself  next to Ren. “They said that they’d be here in fifteen minutes - how’s everything looking?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ren took the next three minutes to check over Oscar - his pulse, his temperature, and he asked him questions to see how he was feeling. When he was done, he stood up and said, “It looks like heat exhaustion. Luckily it’s not heat stroke - we just have to keep him in the shade and hydrated until the ship comes. We’re going to need a lot of ice packs.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And then Oscar can reclaim his title of frosty.” Nora snorted. “Good job, Ren.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks. I’ll give him more water in a couple of minutes.” Ren put down the backpack next to Nora and sat down next to Oscar, pulling his braided hair into a bun. “The sun is more intense today - maybe that’s why Oscar overheated.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The sun is more intense and I left him out there.” Jaune groaned, burying his face in his hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘He’ is still awake.” Oscar slurred, tipping to the side and leaning against Ren. “‘S not your fault.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s right - it’s not your fault.” Nore peered at Jaune, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. “So stop thinking it is!”</span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, fine.” Jaune put his hands up. “You can stop shaking me now, I’m starting to feel nauseous.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And as Ren gently got Oscar to drink some more water, Nora practically shoved water down Jaune’s throat, fearing that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>was starting to get heat exhaustion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the minutes before the ship came, Nora went outside to gather Long Memory and Oscar’s poncho and anything else that was dropped while Ren kept Oscar drinking and Jaune made sure they had the dust container. When the ship arrived, they assisted Oscar on board while the medic on the ship got a bunch of cool compresses and a blanket to lay on. They pressed the cool compresses to Oscar’s forehead and chest and had him sit up every five minutes for a sip of water.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How are you feeling?” Jaune asked after Oscar’s third sip of water. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...better. Less burn-y.” Oscar murmured, a hand coming up to the compress on his forehead. “The compresses are really cold, though.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaune let out a small chuckle. “You’ll be able to take them off soon, so don’t think about that too much.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good. I can’t take this anymore. Both the hot </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>cold suck.” Oscar said with a huff. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Felt that.” Jaune shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, reaching over to ruffle Oscar’s hair. “Why can’t we just get a normally-weathered place to go for once?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I dunno. Maybe it’s just our luck.” Oscar replied, shrugging as best as he could. “But, until then, we'll just have to suffer.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jaune laughed. “Suffer is a strong word.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s the right word, though.” Oscar let his eyes flutter shut. “I hate the weather.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe we should cancel the weather.” Jaune joked back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Maybe we should.” The freckled boy mumbled. Jaune smiled softly and reached over to squeeze Oscar’s hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Get some rest, okay? We’ll be back soon and then we can get you into some air conditioning and get you ice cream.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...’mkay. But I’m lactose intolerant.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No you’re not,” Nora frowned from a couple of feet away. “You eat ice cream all the time!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s a joke, right?” Ren blinked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All he got in return was the soft snores of an overheated farm boy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“T-that was a joke, right?!” Jaune repeated. Still nothing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This </span>
  <em>
    <span>kid.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
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